Five People Reveal What It's Like to Hear 'You Have Ebola'

The drama surrounding U.S. Ebola cases may be winding down, but Time has named its Person of the Year the Ebola fighters who have battled and/or continue to battle the deadly virus. In interviews with the magazine, the five American survivors of the virus share the fascinating social, emotional, and physical aspects of going head-to-head with the illness and living to tell about it. Watch the video below to hear their brave stories:

While you might have followed the headlines about these Ebola cases, it's totally different to hear the patients' stories in their own words. One of the most striking things about the interviews with Nancy Writebol; Kent Brantly, M.D.; and Rick Sacra, M.D. is that they all recall feeling super calm after their diagnoses. Obviously, they're healthcare professionals who are familiar with the drill, but it's hard not to be impressed by their reactions.

The Dallas nurses who were part of the Texas Presbyterian Hospital team caring for the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. had a much different experience. "My chief nursing officer and a CDC doctor came in the room in full protective equipment," says Nina Pham, one of the nurses featured in the video. "I saw his eyes, and they had been red from crying, and I knew." She says that after she was officially diagnosed with Ebola, she started thinking about how her patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, progressed from bad to worse and eventually died from the virus. Amber Vinson, another nurse who cared for Duncan, says in the video that she barely remembers hearing about her positive test results. "When I got my results about Ebola, I almost didn't hear it. It's kind of a blur."

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